TAPE 2, SIDE B
tw: stalking, sexual harassment
Lizzy: We live in a virtual world, where you can find out anything about anyone with a few taps of the finger. Want to see what they look like? Instagram. Their feelings? Twitter. Their friends and family? Facebook. Essentially, we’ve created a society of stalkers.
———
Flashback
Lizzy is dancing around her room and singing anime openings. She takes her shirt off to slip into her pajamas. Suddenly, she hears a noise, similar to a camera click. She freezes with fear and stares out her open window.
Lizzy: What the hell?
Common sense comes back to her brain and she hurriedly closes her blinds and pulls the curtains over them.
———
Lizzy: Of course, facing stalkers in real life is a completely different ball game.
———-
Kieran is eating lunch at his famous picnic table when Red approaches him.
Red: Hey dude.
Kieran: Do I know you?
Red: Of course you do! I’m the class president. You must’ve voted for me.
Kieran: I don’t partake in politics. Slippery slope there.
Red: O...kay. Well anyway! I’m having a party this weekend, you should come.
Kieran: No thanks. Not my scene.
Red: C’mon Kieran. You gotta break out of that depressed loner persona sometime or later.
Kieran: I prefer the term cynical.
Red: Whatever dude! Saturday night, you better be there!
Red smiles and Kieran and then walks away. Kieran rolls his eyes and takes another bite of his sandwich.
———
Lizzy: You know that feeling that you’re being watched? That’s how it started. I found myself watching my back constantly and avoiding windows anytime I could.
———-
Flashback
Lizzy is getting things out of her locker, constantly checking over her shoulder.
CC: Are you...okay?
Lizzy: AAH! Huh? CC?
CC: Woah dude. What’s wrong?
Lizzy: Umm...not here.
Lizzy grabs CC’s hand and drags her to the girl’s bathroom. After checking the stalls, she calms down a bit.
CC: Okay? Why are we in here now?
Lizzy: I think...someone is stalking me.
CC laughs.
CC: What? That's ridiculous. What is this? Some teen drama?
Lizzy: Listen! At night, I’ll hear clicks outside my window, like a camera. And when I’m in school or in the locker room, I’ll feel like someone is watching me.
CC: Well, that certainly doesn’t sound far fetched.
Lizzy: I know! I don’t know what to do!
CC: Well, I’m intrigued.
Lizzy: This isn’t a joke!
CC: I’m not treating it like one. How about I come over tonight and see if anything happens? It can be like a stakeout!
Lizzy: Okay.
———-
Lizzy: I thought I was overreacting. CC had to be right! This wasn’t a teen drama. I had seen too many movies, is all.
———-
Kieran is outside of Red’s house, debating whether or not he should go in. Sighing, he walks into the house.
Red: Kieran! You made it!
Kieran: Against my better judgment, yes.
Red: Well, the night is still young!
Red drags Kieran to the living room where everyone is. After about 30 minutes, Kieran gets annoyed and gets up to leave.
Red: Where are you going? It’s not even late!
Kieran: I have a….you know what? I don’t have an excuse, I just don’t want to be here.
Red: Wait, before you go.
Red pulls Kieran into a bedroom and closes the door behind him.
Kieran: Oh great. Listen Red, I’m not interested in you and this is definitely not going to win you a vote in the next election.
Red: Okay, for one, I would never sleep with someone for a vote. Two, that is not why I brought you here.
Kieran: Then why?
Red: The tapes. You have them right?
Kieran: How do you know about the tapes?
Red: I just do, okay. Listen, how about you just get rid of the tapes? Burn them, do something. Lizzy is dead. There’s no reason to dwell on the past. Let’s just forget about them, about her!
Kieran: What?
Red: Let's just move on, dude.
Kieran looks at Red. Behind him, Lizzy is sitting on the bed and looking at him. She turns her head, as if to ask him if he was going to listen to Red.
Kieran: I gotta go.
Kieran pushes past Red and runs out the front door. He sees Katie’s Camaro parked next to his bike.
Kieran: Oh for fuck’s sake.
Katie: Don't listen to Red.
Kieran: Why shouldn't I? He has a point! She’s dead!
Katie: She has a story to tell.
Kieran: Her story is over!
Katie: Is it?
Kieran pushes past Katie and grabs his bike. He pedals off, angry, and not knowing where he plans to go. He finds himself in front of Lizzy’s house again, except this time, it’s covered in eggs.
Kieran: Why would someone do that?
He sees Michelle trying to clean the windows. She turns around and sees him.
Michelle: You! You...insane little child! Why would you do this? Haven't I suffered enough?!
Kieran: What? This wasn’t me!
Michelle: Who else was it then! There’s no one here!
Kieran: I wouldn’t do this...because I knew her.
Michelle is dumbstruck.
Michelle: Please...come inside.
Kieran follows Michelle into the house and sits down at the kitchen table.
Michelle: So you knew Lizzy?
Kieran: Yes ma’am. We worked together at the comic book store, and we had a few classes together.
Michelle: How was she?
Kieran: She was great. I always looked forward to talking with her.
Michelle: Did she have friends?
Kieran: I think so? She knew a lot of people.
Michelle: Were they nice to her?
Kieran: I’m not really s-
Michelle: Was she bullied?
Kieran: I-
Michelle: Is the bullying why she killed herself?
Kieran sits up and checks his phone.
Kieran: Would you look at the time! I uh, have dinner! Yeah my mom is making my favorite! I have to go now! It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Baker!
Kieran all but runs out the door.
———
Lizzy: I knew that I had to catch you that night. I couldn’t let this keep going on, and keep being scared that someone was always watching. I needed to find out who you were.
———-
Flashback
CC and Lizzy are in Lizzy’s room. Lizzy has left the window open in hopes of catching her stalker.
Lizzy: This is so boring.
CC: I really do think you might’ve been imagining things. Maybe it was just a twig.
Lizzy: Maybe. Well, I’m hungry. Let’s go make something to eat.
CC gets up to follow Lizzy but she trips over a shoe. She stumbles but Lizzy catches her. In the middle of her falling, they both hear a camera go off.
CC: Did you hear that?
They both run to the window and see a figure running away.
CC: Is that-
Lizzy: (grits her teeth) Xav.
——-
Lizzy: Why me? Why did you feel the need to intrude on my most private moments, in my most intimate setting, Xav?
———
Michelle and Nick are cleaning up their store. It’s eerily quiet.
Michelle: We’re losing money.
Nick: What do you expect me to do about it? I can't compete with Walgreens.
Michelle: It’s not because of Walgreens. It’s because of Lizzy. The kids, their parents, the town. They don’t want to confront us because they don’t know what to say.
Nick: There's nothing I can do about that either.
Michelle: Why did this have to happen?
Nick: Maybe it didn’t have to happen. She didn’t have to die. This all could’ve been prevented. Our child should still be here.
Nick throws the broom down and walks out the store.
——
Lizzy: I knew I couldn’t just let this go, Xav. I had to find out why you chose me. I had to know why you picked me.
——-
Flashback
Lizzy sees Xav and pulls him into an empty classroom.
Lizzy: Is there something you need to tell me?
Xav: Lizzy! Uh, n-nothing comes to mind! Why?
Lizzy: I saw you running away Xav.
Xav: Fuck. Listen it’s not what you think, I just-
Lizzy: I’m not interested in why you did it. I just want the pictures deleted. But first, let me see what you took.
Xav hurriedly pulls out his camera and shows the pictures to Lizzy. There are photos of her topless and sleeping, among other things. The last photo is of CC when she fell. The angle makes the pose look, suggestive.
Lizzy: Delete them.
Xav: Sure, anything for you!
Xav pauses.
Xav: Do you wanna go on a date with me?
Lizzy: Excuse me?
Xav: I like you!
Lizzy: (laughs) Are you fucking kidding me? You just showed me pictures of me half naked that were taken without my consent and then have a photo that makes it look like I’m making out with CC. And you have the nerve to ask me on a date? Get lost.
Lizzy pushes past Xav and walks out of the classroom. Enraged, Xav copies the photos onto his phone and posts them on the school group page for everyone to see.
——
Lizzy: If I had said yes, would you have deleted them? Or would you have kept them for your own sick pleasure? Would you have taken more?
——-
Kieran had just reached the part of Lizzy's tape where she talked about her confrontation with Xav. Seeing him, he pulls Xav off to the side.
Kieran: You better give me a good reason why you did what you did to Lizzy.
Xav: The pictures? You can’t say anything, you saved them too. I could see who downloaded them, you know.
Kieran: That's irrelevant to the question.
Xav: I did it because I loved her. I thought she was interesting and outgoing and not afraid to be herself, and I wanted to capture that on film.
Kieran: So you stalked her?!
Xav: I realize now that was wrong. I do regret it, you know.
Kieran: You need to destroy all those pictures, Xav. It’s wrong.
Xav pulls out a picture and shows it to Kieran. It’s of him and Lizzy at the comic book shop. She’s sitting on the counter and laughing at a joke Kieran had said. He is smiling at her.
Xav: Still want me to destroy all the pictures?
Kieran pauses.
Kieran: Yes.
———
Lizzy: You really did nothing for me but make me more paranoid, Xav. People didn’t know it was me in those pictures, you were nice enough to at least cut my face out. I was afraid they would find out, and being paranoid is the worst feeling in the world.
———
Flashback
Lizzy is putting things in her locker when CC comes up to her.
Lizzy: Hey girl, what’s up?
CC: We can’t be friends anymore.
Lizzy: What?
CC: The pictures. I can't be seen with you anymore.
Lizzy: No one even knows it was us, chill out. Plus, nothing even happened.
CC: But it looks like something did! People will eventually find out! I can’t have that reputation!
Lizzy: What reputation?
CC: Being gay. Being with...you.
Lizzy: What's that supposed to mean?
CC: C'mon Lizzy you know you have a reputation around here. I can't be associated with that. I need to go.
CC keeps walking past Lizzy. Lizzy slams her locker shut and walks the opposite way.
———
Lizzy: You had cost me a friendship, Xav. Because you couldn’t just talk to me normally. You had to see me in ways people didn’t see at school. You wanted to keep that all to yourself. Until I made you mad, anyway.
———
Kieran finishes his trek to the star on Lizzy's map. It puts him in front of Xav’s window. Xav looks to be getting ready for a shower. As he takes his pants off, Kieran takes a photo of him. Angry, he uploads the photo to the very same site Xav had put Lizzy’s photos on. He gets on his bike and leaves.
Kieran: Serves you right.
———
Lizzy: The stalker generation. Knowing everything about everyone without them ever finding out. That is the world we live in. No one cares about the negative impact, as long as they get the juicy bits. You fell into that equation, Xav. You needed to see me vulnerable. You wanted that me all to yourself. If you had never done that, would I still be gone? Would CC ditch me anyway? Or would I still have her as a friend? Did you push me over the edge, Xav? Or did the next domino? We’ll see.
END OF EPISODE 4